About
Samar Singh Virdi is an Architect, Photographer and Filmmaker..
He is the youngest contestant ever on National Geographic Channel’s Cover Shot Season 4: Heritage City. In which he qualified till the grand finale. 16 professional photographers were shortlisted from all over India.
In 2016 Samar covered Ladakh for an assignment with National Geographic Traveller India and Vivo India, in which he was featured as a photographer covering the region. The film is titled #Lenscape and has garnered over one million views on Youtube.
Samar’s film, ‘ilm’ received the special jury award at the National Youth Film Festival 2015 held in Goa and also received the first runners up at the Reel to Real national film festival 2015 held in Delhi. Along with commercial and event films, Samar’s film portfolio has spanned over feature film experience, Punjabi music videos, long format writing, short film workshops and documentary filmmaking.
He has also been a part of various campaigns for mobile phone cameras with Vivo, Honor, Oneplus and more. His clients include; Lo’real Paris, The Getty conservation institute, University of Liverpool, Hero Future Energies, Apollo Tyres and more.
He is ranked as one of the top 10 photographers to follow on instagram in the country by various online publications such as HuffPost, Buzzfeed, Homegrown, Youth ki Awaaz; Other featuring links are Apple, Verve Magazine, The Hindu, News18, Condé Nast Traveller, Hhub, Greaves Travel, Times of India, French Books on India, Asian Age, The Tribune, Indian Express and more.
Samar is a graduate in B.B.Sc and B.Arch. from Chandigarh College of Architecture (C.C.A), Panjab University , his B.Arch. thesis was titled, 'Rendezvous @ 17 - A Cultural and Entertainment Centre' which focused on the footfall revitalization of Sector 17, Chandigarh by developing new infrastructure adopted from the historic building drawings.
In the last semester of his graduation, Samar underwent practical training (internship) at CSIR-Central Building Research Institute, I.I.T. Roorkee under Dr. Ashok Kumar where he worked on high altitude low carbon housing for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).
In the second half of 2022, he enrolled in a post-graduate course Environmental Management at Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka and has completed is research dissertation titled, 'Eco-benign Architecture Integrated with Principles of Vastu Shastra' which received an A-Grade. Alongside the course Samar also worked as a project assistant for Dr. T.V. Ramachandra at EWRG, Indian Institute of Science.
After receiving his Architectural Licensure from the Council of Architecture, Samar practiced independently for one year in Chandigarh completing 8 projects in North India for multiple clients.
He joined the Central Building Research Institute (CSIR-CBRI), Roorkee in December 2023 as a Associate Architect - I in the Architecture and Planning Department. At CBRI, Samar specialised in energy efficient architecture and affordable housing, completing various national level government projects. During his tenure he also conducted in-depth research in the subjects; Energy Efficiency of Traditional Architecture of Uttarakhand and Climate Resilient Building Design Guidelines for India. After 6 months of service he was promoted to the post of Associate Architect - II.
During this year he was also invited as a guest lecturer by the Department of Architecture and Planning, IIT Roorkee for the masters and PhD batches specifically for sustainable architecture and Environmental Impact Assessment.
In 2025 he joined Arkance India as a Sr. BIM Specialist in Architecture with the role of providing expert training and consultancy in advanced architectural software to architects and architecture students. Within this role he also hold the position of guest faculty at Chitkara School of Planning and Architecture for the subject of Computer Applications.
For architectural portfolio please visit this page.
For photography feed you can visit his instagram.
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Contact: mail@ssv.asia
Experience
2015
• Two-time student national award winner for short film titled, “Ilam – Punjab’s unknown battle of sanity.”
• Mentored basics of photography workshop
2016
• Grand Finalist in National Geographic Cover Shot Season 4: Heritage City
• On site photography for Hero Future Energies covering solar and wind energy farms
2017
• College studio projects pertaining to different building typologies
• Participation in DESTECH UI/UX design challenge
• Assistant Director in Harjeeta Punjabi film featuring Ammy Virk
2018
• Photography assignment for National Geographic Traveler Magazine in Leh, Ladakh
• Bauhaus furniture design competition
• Industrial design trophy challenge
• Filmmaking workshop mentor
• College studio projects pertaining to different building typologies
2019
• Architectural photography for Getty Conservation Institute
• College studio projects pertaining to different building typologies
• Director and cinematographer for Punjabi music videos
• Delivered lecture on Photography at MCM-DAV College Chandigarh
2021
• Re-densification of Chandigarh – LIG, MIG, HIG housing architectural design
• Cultural and Entertainment Centre in Chandigarh City Centre (Bachelors’ degree thesis)
• Published photographs in cookbook titled “From Gujarat, With Love.”
2022
• Architect (Apprentice) at Architecture and Planning Group,
CSIR – Central Building Research Institute
• Research paper: Integration of indigenous low carbon technologies with novel low energy mass housing in Ladakh (U.T.)
Research paper: Schematic Design and Analysis of Underground Food Stock Storage Structure for Armed Forces in Mountainous Regions of India
(Special mention award at iConverge Conference 2022)
• Environmental Impact Assessment for 4GW solar plant in Sambhar Region of Rajasthan, India
2023
• Architect at Arthouse India, Chandigarh
• Interior Design: 5 outlets for QSR brand called ‘Super Donuts’
• Interior Design: Two 3 BHK luxury apartments
• Architectural Design: Hotel in Imphal
• Architectural Design: Cafe in Imphal
• Architectural Design: Highway resort in Rajasthan
• Architectural Design: Eco-resort in Beas, Punjab
• Landscape Design: Eco-resort in Beas, Punjab
• Architectural Design: Residence near Pinjore
• Interior Design: Residence in Chandigarh
• Interior Design: Mural work and interior art for new party hall at Chandigarh Club
2024
• Architect (Associate -I) at Architecture and Planning Group,
CSIR – Central Building Research Institute
• Long Term Project: Energy Analysis and Type Design for Indigenous Himalayan Architecture of Garhwal Uttarakhand
• Research Project: Urban Heat Island analysis of Mauritius Islands.
• Architectural Design: NTPC hydroelectric project at Joshimath, Uttarakhand
• Architectural Design: Residential Type Design for PMAY (PM Housing Scheme)
• Promoted to Architect (Associate-II) at Architecture and Planning Group,
CSIR – Central Building Research Institute
• Architectural Design: Green Retrofitting of CBRI main building (AP Kanvinde)
• Architectural Design: Model Village in Himachal Pradesh
• Long Term Project: Climate Resilient Building Guidelines for India
• Delivered lecture on ‘Environmental Impact Assessment’ as guest faculty at Department of Architecture and Planning, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee
2025
• Sr. BIM Specialist - Architecture at Arkance India
• Advanced knowledge in all BIM applications with Autodesk certifications.
• Delivering BIM Trainings to professional architects and engineers with BIM 4 Design Course under Arkance India
• Visiting faculty for Computer Applications subject of B.Arch. and B.Des. Courses at Chitkara University.
• Delivered 1-week intensive beginners Revit course to Drawing Department of Military Engineering Services, Indian Army, Bathinda.
• BIM consultancy, discovery and demo clients delivered to clients like Reliance Industries, Adani Group, Arup Associates, Jackson Engineering, Sobha, B&W Engineering, GPMA, Ministry of Railways and more.
• Interior Design: Residence in Chandigarh
• Architectural Design: Farmhouse in Chandigarh
• Landscape Design: Farmhouse in Chandigarh
• Architectural Design: Residence in Chandigarh
• Conducted workshop on AI + Architecture at Chitkara University
• Working on LLM based archival project for an AEC digital knowledge repository